A warning ahead of November

On 30 September, speakers on a video call for MAGA election activists warned of widespread election security breaches they believe will occur in November and urged swift remedies. The call was streamed on Rumble and, according to Axios, is a regular feature of this activist community, drawing participants from across the country. The concerns centred on the midterm elections due in November. The host, Steve Stern, pointed viewers toward the Republican Party as a route to becoming poll workers or observers for the November vote, and he declined an interview request.

Martial law and seized ballots

Peter Ticktin, a childhood friend of Trump, told the call that martial law would have to follow another rigged election.

“there would have to be martial law in the event of another rigged election”

Later, speaking to Axios, Ticktin said officials would probably have to seize ballots and election equipment so that questions could be resolved before anything else happened. Gregory Stenstrom, who testified about alleged voting irregularities in Pennsylvania in 2020, said his first preference was a pause in the vote because of security worries. Stenstrom also proposed that Trump invoke the National Emergencies Act to compel states to change how they run elections, and Axios could not reach him for comment. According to Axios, some of these proposals exceed Trump's legal authority by a wide margin, and no evidence has surfaced that the elections will be rigged.

Tina Peters and her access to Trump

Tina Peters was convicted in 2024 of crimes tied to a breach of election equipment. She was released earlier in 2026 after Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, commuted her sentence. Peters and her attorney, Peter Ticktin, visited Trump at the White House in late June, and she met the president again in October. Peters did not reply to Axios outreach. Since August she has promoted her own plan calling for hand-marked paper ballots and a manual recount of all votes where feasible. Ticktin told Colorado Public Radio that the switch "would eliminate whatever effect the machines have," a claim that places the voting machines at the center of the dispute.

Legal limits on emergency powers

Derek Tisler, counsel for the Brennan Center's elections and government program, pushed back on the idea of unlimited emergency power.

“Emergency powers are not just a blank check for the president to go do whatever they want.”

He added that the president must still act within the Constitution and within statutes set by Congress. Among the legal limits Axios lists is the timing of elections, which Congress sets. The gap between those limits and the proposals circulating on the call is the central tension in the reporting, since the activists' remedies would require steps well outside those statutes.